Fleeing the Taliban, Rahman Bunairee arrived in the U.S. with a visa and a job at the American, government-run radio station. VOA is trying to find out why he is being held.

Six days ago, a Pakistani journalist on the run from Taliban militants landed in the United States holding a valuable key to sanctuary: a visa granting him the right to work for the Voice of America radio service for one year.

A woman in a Paris suburb was banned from a public pool for wearing a full-body burkini swimsuit, igniting a new round of national debate pitting religious freedom against secular values.

A punchy jingle kicks off the promotional video of a French firm that sells Islamic women’s swimwear.

Hamas forces storm the mosque in the southern town of Rafah after its imam, guarded by gunmen, declares that his militant group will impose an Islamic state. Sixteen people are reportedly killed.

Hamas government forces stormed a mosque in the Gaza Strip on Friday and apparently subdued a heavily armed group of Al Qaeda-inspired militants whose imam had vowed to impose theocratic rule in the Palestinian territory.

The chairwoman of Hyundai Group went to Pyongyang to seek the man’s release after President Clinton’s successful trip gained the freedom of two U.S. TV reporters.

A 44-year-old South Korean worker held in North Korea since March was released today after a visit by Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, authorities said.

Bridges followed a risky career path over 50 years in the African bush. He was allegedly stabbed to death by a machete-wielding gang that coveted his profitable mining concession.

For decades, Scottish geologist and gem dealer Campbell Bridges navigated the risks that came with mining precious stones in Africa.

A pocket of alleys and a square, Tora is stubborn and enduring and, like Egypt, struggles from first light to long after the last working man wanders home.

He dances in the alley when the music’s right, remembering the days when he made machine guns during the week and in his off hours slipped on a satin shirt and black-and-white shoes and gathered a band of horn blowers to play weddings along the Nile.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says it does not preclude such a request later. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s report will assess conditions in Afghanistan and the effect of a new security strategy.

An upcoming assessment of Afghanistan by the top U.S. commander there will not include a request for additional U.S. troops, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday.

The attack on a youth hangout in the northwestern town of Sinjar, home to the Yazidi sect, kills at least 21 people and injures at least 32. Kurdish-Arab tensions could be behind the assault.

A double suicide bombing devastated a cafe packed with youths Thursday in northwestern Iraq, killing at least 21 people and injuring at least 32, officials said, in the latest attack against a minority community.

Scotland is considering releasing on compassionate grounds the former Libyan intelligence agent convicted in the deaths of 270 people in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner, news reports say.

The Scottish justice minister is considering the release from prison of a man serving a life sentence for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people, because the man is terminally ill, according to news reports Thursday.

In a spillover of Tijuana violence, Mexican gang members posing as U.S. law enforcement personnel abducted and killed 9 victims.

Authorities announced charges Thursday against a Mexican gang that took Tijuana-style violence to the upscale suburbs of San Diego County, kidnapping, torturing and killing well-to-do residents, even after some families paid large ransoms.